hey guys, just looking for opinions. My PP (2 years old) just had his regular checkup and the basic test showed 'exposure to lyme' which I guess doesn't surprise me being a hunting dog in NY. I asked for the titer test before treatment to see if it was just exposure or something more. The results came back 45 which I guess most vets say is an issue (anything greater than 30). just wondering what you folks have experienced. I have read a lot about it and feel even more confused. A lot of folks seem to say that the titer just indicates the dog is fighting the infection correctly and antibiotics just wreak havoc. Some say of course that >30 means the dog is in full blown lames and needs medication. Seems to be a topic that has a lot of ambiguity. As a side note, I use advantix 2 and have found tons of ticks attached after hunting, so not sure how well that stuff works.

Yes, symptoms are subtle a dog may not show any. I didn't know how bad I felt till I started feeling good. A dog can't tell us if he's feeling good or not so good and we really don't see symptoms of anything till they feel really bad. Better safe than sorry.

Only 1 in 10 dogs will show symptoms and symptoms can be subtle. I see a month of Doxycycline in your future. That's what I'd do anyway.

thanks for the advice, you are likely right. Does this mean my dog actually has lyme disease or is it not quite that simple and we don't know for sure?

Both. Is that the most frustrating answer you've ever gotten? Welcome to the club. To the best of our knowledge your dog has a high enough antibody production to have an active infection. 1 month of Doxycycline effectively treats dogs with symptoms. We do not know if this treats, or cures, the disease. I do know after years of practice that most dogs titer levels will slowly drop over several years. Is the bacteria gone, or hiding in cells where the immune system can't respond?? We don't know.

I'm sorry you thought were using good prevention and it didn't work. I tend to think of Advantix as a good product. I see more failures due to surprise warm weather and ticks are out before owners are ready than true product failure, but nothing is 100% and you live in Lyme central too.

You might consider one of the new oral products, Bravecto and Nexguard. I personally use Nexguard and since my dogs are active swimmers it gives me some peace of mind.

To the best of our knowledge your dog has a high enough antibody production to have an active infection. 1 month of Doxycycline effectively treats dogs with symptoms.

I am glad you said that, I think thats exactly what has been confusing me. You say 'active infection' which I get. Is it a true disease where he will suffer over time if not treated or an infection where one might think he should be monitored and will beat it himself maybe (I am thinking about an infection I might get that comes and goes). And in his case there are no symptoms to treat (that I am aware of) so why treat the infection? Isn't the presence of a lot of antibodies a sign that his endocrine system doing what it should be (beating an infection)?

The recommendations from experts is to treat only those dogs with clinical signs. In practice most people here "disease" and hold their hand out for antibiotics. Over the years, I have had enough people surprised to see their dogs feel better that I typically treat every dog upon first diagnosis. The symptoms can be subtle they are missed or attributed to other things.

Because we can only test the immune response we assume infection and do not know if we ever get rid of it completely. Most symptoms are secondary to an excessive immune response and not the bacteria itself.